The week’s news in the ceramic art world – November 7, 2023

• Applications for the International Ceramics Biennial of Manises 2024 are open until December 1, 2023, with the event featuring awards across two main sections: Artistic Ceramics and Ceramic Product Design. The main prizes will be offered by Ciutat de Manises (€8,000 for the Artistic Ceramics section and €4,000 for the Ceramic Product Design section. This edition is judged on a set of criteria that assesses the treatment of ceramic material and expressive solution (each weighted at 30%), aesthetics (20%), and originality (also 20%). Application link.

• Applications are open for Argillà Italia 2024, an international ceramics festival and fair in Faenza. Ceramists, craft potters, technical exhibitors, and associations are invited to apply until January 10, 2024. The festival will feature many cultural events, exhibitions, shows, workshops for children and artistic workshops. The Baltic Countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) will be Guest Country in 2024.

• Excellence in Clay: The 1st Annual Fundraising Sale by the International Academy of Ceramics is now open. Over 50 IAC members from all over the world have donated their ceramic artworks to support this fundraising effort. All funds raised will fulfill the IAC’s mission of bringing people together through a shared passion for ceramics.

Ceramics Now Weekly #62 was sponsored by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
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• Join artists Rebecca Appleby and Aneta Regel for Clay in Conversation 6: Time, the sixth in a series of conversations curated by artist Julia Ellen Lancaster, presenting artists working with clay and ceramics. Each discussion centers on a specific theme – acting as a lens through which the artists will present a single piece of work or project. A Q&A session with the audience follows the presentations. The event will be held at the University of Westminster, London, on November 17.

• The Australian Ceramics Open Studios (ACOS) is taking place this weekend all over Australia. Over 200 potters and ceramic artists will open their studios to celebrate clay, community, and creativity.

• Book recommendation: Peter Callas: An Enduring Legacy. Published on the occasion of a comprehensive career retrospective at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, this definitive catalog on Peter Callas features 100 full-color photographs over 168 pages with new essays by Glenn Adamson, Glen Brown, Jo Lauria (Curator), and Beth Ann Gerstein (Executive Director).

• In this beautiful essay published on the occasion of Shigemasa Higashida’s exhibition at The Stratford Gallery, Anna Clegg recounts a serene afternoon with the artist somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo. Waiting outside Musashi-Koganei station in the peculiar light of a winter’s sun, Clegg sets the scene with observant detail. The visit unfolds as a quiet exploration of Higashida’s home and studio, offering a glimpse into his deliberate and thoughtful art. Clegg’s narrative immerses us in Higashida Shigemasa’s world, where every object tells its own tale of creation, destruction, and beauty in utility.

• Ceramic Brussels recently announced the ten laureates of the first Ceramic Brussels Art Prize: Antoine Moulinard, Audrey Ballacchino, François Bauer, Duo Vertigo, Damien Fragnon, Elsa Guillaume, Jonas Moenne, Inup Park, Joke Raes, Ming-Miao Ko. The artists will be exhibited during Ceramic Brussels (January 25-28, 2024) and presented in a unique fair publication.

• Yuliya Makliuk’s book, Potters Save the World: Learn to Make Sustainable Ceramics and Help Protect the Earth, is now available in paperback and e-book! You can get a copy via Amazon or Etsy, while prices are reduced by 50% for three days only.

• Rhode Island School of Design is hiring an Assistant or Associate Professor, Ceramics

• What’s On View: Celebrate is on view at Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden / Ahrong Kim: Over the Paper Plane is on view at Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton / Shozo Michikawa: Inspired by Hokkaidō is on view at Erskine Hall Coe, London / Maeda Masahiro: Playing with Pattern is on view at Joan B Mirviss, New York / Of Water is on view at Maud & Mabel, London / Woodfired Alchemy: Works by Meg Beaudoin and Mike Weber is on view at Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York / Anthony Sonnenberg: In a Time of Make Believe is on view at David B Smith Gallery, Chicago / Hélène SEE: Sculptures & Gravures is on view at Galerie Grès, Paris / Mashq by Javaria Ahmad is on view at Sculpture Space NYC, New York / Julie Decubber: Tessons Exquis is on view at Keramis, La Louvière / Audrey An: GIMUL – Wishful Things is on view at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading